JERUSALEM: More than 70 Israeli lawmakers passed a motion on Wednesday urging the government to impose sovereignty over the West Bank, though the symbolic move does not affect the Palestinian territory’s legal status.
The non-binding vote in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, was backed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, as well as some opposition lawmakers.
They said that annexing the West Bank “will strengthen the state of Israel, its security and prevent any questioning of the fundamental right of the Jewish people to peace and security in their homeland.”
“Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria” — the name Israel uses for the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967 — was “an integral part of the realization of Zionism and the national vision of the Jewish people,” the text stated.
It passed by a vote of 71 to 13, with 36 other lawmakers absent.
Hussein Al-Sheikh, deputy to Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas, said the motion was “a direct assault on the rights of the Palestinian people” that “undermines the prospects for peace, stability and the two-state solution.”
“These unilateral Israeli actions blatantly violate international law and the ongoing international consensus regarding the status of the Palestinian territories, including the West Bank,” he wrote on X.
Some 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, which is home to around three million Palestinians.
Israeli settlement there is regularly condemned by the UN and is considered illegal under international law.
It is seen as one of the main obstacles — along with ongoing violence between the two sides — to a lasting peace agreement through the creation of a viable Palestinian state with authority over the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israeli lawmakers pass symbolic motion on West Bank annexation
https://arab.news/vg989
Israeli lawmakers pass symbolic motion on West Bank annexation
- The bill was passed by a vote of 71 to 13, with 36 other lawmakers absent in the Knesset
- Some 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank, which is home to around three million Palestinians
First EU airline flight in 35 years lands in Baghdad
- The ministry said the arrival signalled “Iraq’s return to the European aviation map“
- The Baghdad-Athens-Baghdad route will operate two flights a week
BAGHDAD: Iraq’s transport ministry said Tuesday that a flight operated by Greece’s Aegean Airlines had been the first European aircraft in 35 years to land at Baghdad’s international airport.
In a statement, the ministry said the arrival signalled “Iraq’s return to the European aviation map” and ushered in “a new phase of recovery for Iraq’s aviation sector.”
European airlines have not operated direct flights to Baghdad International Airport for security reasons since the early 1990s, when Iraq’s long-time ruler Saddam Hussein invaded neighboring Kuwait.
Hussein was toppled by the US-led invasion in 2003, which was followed by a civil war, sectarian violence and the emergence of armed jihadist factions.
But, after decades of turmoil, Iraq has recently begun to regain a sense of stability and the government is striving to attract foreign investment to bolster the country’s economy.
The Baghdad-Athens-Baghdad route will operate two flights a week with the possibility of adding more depending on demand, the ministry said.
Earlier this year, the Greek carrier started flights to Irbil, the capital of the northern autonomous Kurdistan region, which presents itself as a relative oasis of stability in volatile Iraq.
